Gun-Control Poster City Ends Year With Record Homicide Numbers

While several of America’s largest cities saw a rise in homicides last year, none had a deadlier year than Chicago. The Windy City, with some of the strictest gun-control laws on the books, averaged more than 14 murders a week and totaled 762 homicides. That figure surpassed the number of murders in New York City and Los Angeles combined, and represented the largest spike in 60 years.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson made it clear that criminals have little to fear. “In Chicago, we just don’t have a deterrent to pick up a gun,” he said. “Any time a guy stealing a loaf of bread spends more time pre-trial in jail than a gun offender, something is wrong.”

The nation’s third-largest city also recorded 1,100 more shooting incidents than in 2015. Police have stated that the majority of the homicides and shootings occur in five neighborhoods on Chicago’s South and West sides—areas that are predominantly poor and rife with gang activity.

Sheriffs Won’t Enforce Nevada Background Check Law

We told you yesterday about how Nevada’s new Michael Bloomberg-funded “universal” background check law, which was very narrowly passed by voters in November, had been declared “unenforceable” by the state attorney general. Now county sheriffs in the state are announcing that they won’t be enforcing it.

According to a report in the Reno Gazette-Journal, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it and the Lyon County District Attorney’s Office “support” the opinion that the new law is unenforceable, adding, “We will not enforce any provisions of this ballot initiative until the issues have been resolved.” The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office released a statement that it is “advising its citizens that they may proceed with private party firearm sells and transfers as they did prior to the passing of ballot question #1.”

Proponents of the measure are scrambling for a way to revive the ill-conceived law. But under Nevada state law, laws passed by ballot initiative cannot be altered for three years.

N.M. Lawmaker To Introduce “Permitless” Carry In 2017

Republican New Mexico state Sen. Steven Neville plans to introduce legislation in Albuquerque to bring “permitless,” or constitutional, carry to the Land of Enchantment, KRQE.com reports. If he’s successful, New Mexico would become the 12th state to give its citizens the right to carry a firearm without a permit.

The legislation “would allow anyone who would be legally entitled to own firearms and carry firearms to do so without having a concealed-carry permit,” the San Juan County Republican explained. He noted that law-enforcement officers in his district had urged him to introduce this legislation after pointing out that enforcing the law that prohibits carry without a permit—a petty misdemeanor—wastes valuable law-enforcement resources.

About 40,000 New Mexico residents currently hold concealed-carry permits, and about one in four of those are women. Other states that have constitutional carry laws on the books include Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

One In Six South Dakotans Now Have Carry Permits

The number of concealed-carry permits issued in South Dakota reached a record high last year, according to Secretary of State Shantel Krebs.

The previous high, set in 2013, was 26,863—a record that was handily shattered once the final permit counts for 2016 had been tallied. (For comparison’s sake, in 2007, only 11,533 permits were granted.) The 30,029 new and renewal permits issued last year brought the state’s total number of individuals with carry permits to 96,047—or one in six South Dakota residents.

“As South Dakotans, we value our Second Amendment rights, and can see a direct influence in the number of concealed-carry permits issued based on national events or when candidates and elected officials at the national level talk about limiting the Second Amendment,” Krebs said. Last year’s spike began in the three months after the December 2015 San Bernardino attacks, when over 10,000 permits were issued (versus the typical three-month average of 4,500). The threat of a Hillary Clinton presidency and anti-gun edicts from President Barack Obama further buoyed application numbers.

Robber Returns A Second Time, Is Shot By Employees

When a would-be robber attempted a hold-up, he was carefully ushered out the door. When he came back a second time, he left in a car, clutching a gunshot wound.

The New Orleans Police Department says David Vaughn walked into the Triangle Deli and gas station on New Year’s Eve—then showed a gun to a cashier behind the counter and demanded money. But the employee grabbed his own gun and escorted Vaughn out of the store, ending the robbery attempt.

However, at around 12:20 a.m. on Sunday, three employees of the deli recognized Vaughn as he returned to the establishment. KLSA News 12 reported that one employee then shot Vaughn, while another wrestled him to the ground and the third took the suspect’s gun. Vaughn was transported to a nearby hospital by an accomplice, where he was treated and arrested for attempted robbery.